


For Purely Scientific Reasons

by slamncram (GettheSalt)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, M/M, Showing Off, Workout, salmon ladder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 04:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10563864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GettheSalt/pseuds/slamncram
Summary: It's not that Leo doubts that Grant can do something like the salmon ladder, and it's certainly not because he would ever want to objectify his boyfriend. He just wants to see it in practice, because he's deeply interested in the science behind such a thing. Really. That's all.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LegendsofSnark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegendsofSnark/gifts).



> I'm unsure exactly what happened, but there was a post, it said "Grant Ward doing the salmon Ladder while Fitz ‘takes notes’ for scientific reasons but in actuality it’s to watch his boyfriend mostly", I blacked out, and when I came to, I'd written THIS.

Grant has done some pretty damn impressive things in the time that Leo’s known him. The list includes everything from jumping out of a plane (without the parachute on, an important fact to add), to taking out enemy assailants with ordinary kitchen appliances (Skye _still_ mourns the Keurig). He’s a force to be reckoned with, and rightfully so. You didn’t get to be one of SHIELD’s top specialists without earning the right to have your photo next to the word ‘Tank’ in the dictionary.

Even with all the impressive things that he’s done in the field, there is something so maddeningly impressive about the things he accomplishes off the clock. _That_ list goes everywhere from cooking meals that have Leo starving for more (and he’s so lucky his boyfriend is a _damn_ good cook), to doing things to Leo in bed that have him begging for more. No, Grant doesn’t have any doctorate degrees, and he has an unfortunate habit of being somewhat boorish from time to time, but he still manages to impress Leo, in all kinds of ways.

Including one that sometimes makes Leo feel a little like he’s objectifying the other man. It’s times like this that he likes to try and convince Grant otherwise, even while he, himself, knows that their relationship entitles him to a little bit of healthy objectification.

“I just don’t think it’s all that possible. It seems very taxing on the body, and they probably had the actor on ropes, pulling him up.”

The sun was shining on the grounds of the SHIELD base they’d stopped at. The Bus needed refueling, and Coulson’s team needed the chance to stretch their legs. Skye and Jemma were off, somewhere, doing their own thing. If they’d known what it was that Leo had coerced Grant into, they may have insisted on being present to watch, but Leo was greedy. He was, frankly, selfish. He wanted this show all to himself, without Skye calling Grant a fitness freak, or Jemma commenting on the shape his physiology must be in to achieve what he’s doing.

“Leo, you’ve seen _May_ do things that shouldn’t be possible. This is like… A more intense pull-up. I can do those with no problem.” Grant said, looking at Leo from behind his sunglasses. _He_ was dressed in his regular workout gear; black sweats, grey heathered shirt with a barely dried circle of sweat on it from the warm-up Leo had interrupted. _Leo_ , not so much. Jeans, a plaid shirt and a light cardigan was his outfit, definitely not what someone wore to a SHIELD gym, but _he_ wasn’t going to workout.

He was going for ‘scientific reasons’.

“Yes, but,” Leo cut in, switching his tablet from one hand to another. “That’s _May_. She’s _The Cavalry_.”

“You know she hates that.”

Leo smirked, looking up at Grant. That reply came a few seconds later than he’d expected, and though Grant was trying to mask it…

“It’s not that I don’t think you can do it...”

“Mhmm.”

The smirk only got wider at that. There was something terribly _cute_ about when Grant got obstinate. He got a determination about him to prove himself, or prove himself _right_ , and it was both endearing and hilarious. Leo understood it. There were definitely times when he could get the same way.

“I just want to see it in action. The amount of strain, and the theory behind it. You _claim_ that it’s easily doable, but I don’t think I believe that.” Leo continued, his tone light and easy as they strolled up the walkway towards the gym doors. Hurrying a few steps ahead of Grant, he pulled the door open, and waved him through with his tablet. “Going to show me just how easy it is?”

It was Grant’s turn to smirk at that, and Leo felt very proud of himself. “You just don’t think it’s doable, because the most strenuous thing they had you do at Sci-Tech was lift your own equipment.”

Fighting words. And flirting. Leo knew enough to recognize that now. When they had first started taking shots at each other’s respective branch of SHIELD, it had gotten under his skin as a source of pure annoyance. Now, it almost sounded like a promise of teasing little jabs shared between kisses before one or the other of them has the other keeping a hand over their mouth to keep the disruption to a minimum.

“How about you just focus on showing me how this ‘salmon ladder’ is done, Agent Ward.” Leo suggested, following him into the facility. “Then we can talk about how strenuous Sci-Tech was.”

Grant hummed in agreement, taking off his sunglasses and handing them to Leo. He tucked them in one of the pockets of his cardigan, and followed Grant across the floor, ignoring the questioning glances from some of the other gym-goers. Other specialists, no doubt, and they probably knew Grant on sight, but the glimpse of an engineer following after him probably had them thoroughly confused. Sci-Tech agents _rarely_ end up in SHIELD gyms.

Unless it’s for something like this.

That is, something _entirely_ unrelated to SHIELD business.

Leo caught Grant working out in the cargo bay, before this. That had all been part of his plan. Let Grant get the first of his workout in, let him get warmed up. Then, ask him about this apparently _very_ difficult athletic feat, and question his ability to do it. That was, of course, after confirming that the SHIELD facility they were currently hangared at housed the right equipment for Grant to show off. Which was exactly what Leo had known he would be unable to resist doing, once Leo brought it up.

“It looks ridiculous.” Leo commented, circling the salmon ladder while Grant dusted his hands. A steel bar was set on a rung slightly above Grant’s height, and, looking at it, Leo found himself wondering exactly how someone Grant’s size was supposed to pull this off. It wasn’t like he was a particularly small person, or that he didn’t weigh a considerable amount. He was strong, yes, but all that muscle weighed _something_. “I’ll just take a seat...”

Nudging a medicine ball with his foot, Leo got himself into a nice position to watch Grant attempt this, and made a show of prepping the tablet for his notes. Looking up from it, he found Grant watching him with his eyebrows raised, hands on his hips.

“Ready whenever you are.” He said with a grin, waving his hand at Grant. “Go on, show me how _easy_ this is to do.”

Grant rolled his eyes, and for a second, Leo thought that was the end of it. Grant liked to show off, particularly for him, but in the presence of other specialists, maybe he wasn’t so keen on the idea. The hint of a smile on his lips a few short seconds later reassured Leo that this was still happening, though. He needed it to happen _today_. It wasn’t every SHIELD gym that had one of these, and it wasn’t like they had one on the Bus. If he wanted a show, if he wanted the chance to watch his boyfriend’s spectacularly fit body do something like this, it was now or never.

“You sure about this? I just don’t want you to have to eat your words.”

Grant was reaching up, his fingers lightly brushing against the bar on the ladder. Leo nodded, tapping the side of the tablet, eyes drifting from Grant’s fingers down to his face.

“Absolutely. It’s purely scientific curiosity. The physics behind it have to be fairly precise, and with you doing it for me, I can somewhat control the environment, and really understand how--”

“--Right.”

Leo closed his mouth when Grant interrupted him. Not because he was interrupting him, but because he was reaching up and properly gripping the bar, pulling himself up.

No, no. Leo _never_ got tired of watching Grant work out. He knew he was strong. He regularly shared a bed with the man, and ran his hands over the curves of all that muscle. Leo _knew_ Grant was strong. It was just, when he got the chance to watch him do things like this, he remembered _how_ strong. How finely tuned, how beautifully sculpted, all that hard muscle under soft curves, almost deceiving, and--

Leo was supposed to be pretending this was scientific, but when Grant pulled the bar up and onto the next rung, he knew he was staring. Just a little. Grant wasn’t looking at him, couldn’t see the way his eyes were roving over his body hungrily while he moved up another rung, and then another. He wasn’t looking, and he was quite a ways up, so he couldn’t see _or_ hear Leo murmur ‘ _Christ_ ’ to himself, rubbing his thumb over his lower lip.

Leo had known it was possible. If an actor on a network television program could do it, Grant would have no problem.

It was just that he had _not_ accounted for how _good_ Grant would look doing it. Arms flexing, body tight, a sliver of skin showing between his shirt and the waistband of his sweats. It had been a long time since Leo had gotten to just sit back and admire Grant’s body like _this_. Yes, he was objectifying his boyfriend right now, but who the hell would ever blame him?

Grant reached the top of the ladder, and Leo was ready to ask what came next, and how he’d be getting himself down from there, when Grant answered that question for him. Using the same technique that had gotten him _up_ the ladder, he dropped down a few rungs, and then a few more, and then a few _more_ , before he let go of the bar and dropped back to the matted floor, straightening up and rubbing his palms together.

Leo knew he was caught before Grant had even opened his mouth. He recognized the look in his eyes too well.

“Did you even _try_ to take any notes?”

“Uh...” Leo looked down at his tablet, that had gone dark in the time Grant had been demonstrating just how the salmon ladder was done. “My, uh, my notes are--”

Grant had strolled over, taking his sweet time with it. Now, he was crouched in front of Leo, gently taking the tablet from his hands, a smirk on his face.

“You’ve never watched me work out ‘ _for science_ ’ before, Leo, I’m not about to believe it _now_.”

Leo knew he should argue. He should at least try to hold up the flimsy pretense that he’d done all of this under. The issue was that Grant was radiating heat, his skin a little shiny with a thing layer of sweat – how wasn’t he drenched after that? - and he was close enough to kiss that damn smirk off if Leo wanted. It was making it very, _very_ hard to come up with some sort of plausible excuse for why he hadn’t taken any notes.

“Nothing?” Grant asked, his smirk getting wider. “Comments? Questions?”

Leo let out a slow breath. “Fine. You got me.”

Grant grinned. “No questions then?”

In response, Leo gave him a flat look.

“Good, then, because I have a question of my own.” Grant set Leo’s tablet down on the mat next to the medicine ball he was using as a seat, and then braced his hands on Leo’s knees. In spite of the other specialists in the gym, he leaned forward, holding Leo in place with those hands on his knees, and kissed him. It was slow, and gentle, but there was a heat, there. Desire, and a promise.

“You want to come back to the Bus with me, fool around while there’s not a single person for us to be quiet for?”

Leo grinned, stealing one more quick peck, sliding his hands over Grant’s. “Doesn’t sound like much scientific research will be involved, but I’m absolutely in.”


End file.
